1.
Frequency. The Commission
shall hold regularly scheduled meetings. Special meetings of the Commission may
be called by the Chair or by a majority of the Commission members. Commission
members must be given at least twenty-four (24) hours written notice of the
time, place and purpose of a special meeting; if such written notice is not
possible, notice must be provided by telephone, telephone facsimile or email
with confirmation of receipt required.
2.
Public Notice. Notice of,
and the agenda for, all regular meeting of the Commission shall be posted on
the Commission's website (www.maine.gov/csc) at least seven (7) days before the
meeting. Notice of any special meeting of the Commission shall be provided in
the same manner as notice of regular meetings is provided to Commission
members.
3.
Public Participation. All meetings of the Commission are open to the
public except that an executive session may be called, in accordance with 1
MRSA Section405, by a public, recorded vote of 3/5 of the members of the
Commission present and voting.
4.
Agenda and Rules of Conduct. The Chair shall provide a written
agenda for each regular meeting of the Commission. The agenda must set forth
the items to be considered, including any scheduled upcoming appearances of
Commission members, as well as the date, time and location of the meeting. The
agenda must be mailed, or sent by either telephone facsimile or email to each
Commission member at least seven (7) days before the meeting. The agenda is
subject to amendment by Commission members at the opening of the Commission
meeting. Commission meetings shall be governed by Robert's Rules of
Order.
5.
Quorum and
Voting. Decisions made by the Commission must be made at a meeting at
which a quorum is present. Four Commission members constitute a quorum.
Commission members are entitled to one (1) vote on each issue or motion to come
before the Commission at all regular and special meetings held. When it is
impossible or impractical for a Commission member to travel to attend a
Commission meeting in person, the Commission member may participate in the
meeting by telephone; that member will not be counted in the quorum. Neither
proxy nor absentee voting is permitted.
For the approval of an application to authorize a public
charter school a roll call vote with five (5) affirmative votes or two-thirds
(2/3) of the current Commission membership is required. The Chair will call the
roll alphabetically and will vote last. The Vice Chair of the Commission will
call the roll when the Commission Chair served as Chair of the application
review committee.
No Commission member shall cast a vote on any matter that
would provide direct financial benefit to that member or the member's spouse,
family member, or business partner or otherwise give the appearance of a
conflict of interest under State law.
6.
Minutes. The Vice-Chair
shall ensure that minutes of each meeting of the Commission are prepared and
are provided to the Commission members for their review and approval as the
official record of the meeting.
The staff will prepare minutes of each business meeting of
the Commission. Minutes shall record all actions of the Commission. If votes
are not unanimous, the names of those voting in the minority should be
recorded. Approved minutes are to be posted on the State Charter School
Commission web site.
The minutes will record any executive session of the
Commission and its subject matter, but will not report the proceedings of the
executive session. Likewise, the minutes will not be taken of any public
hearing held by the Commission, since hearings are separately recorded.
